Lori's A.M. Buzz: Who's calling, please?

By
Washington Post editors

Good morning. Now that was a great weekend. Sunny, warm with a bit of a breeze. Hope you had a chance to enjoy it. It's Monday and with a little less than a week to go until Election Day, your mailboxes are likely brimming with campaign literature. Have you been one of the folks who received a call saying you can still vote for Adrian Fenty on Nov. 2? If so, shoot us an email at tellus@washpost.com. Voting in Maryland? You won't want to miss our latest polling on the Maryland governor's race below. Read on.

Coming up:

A little rain may fall. After a really gorgeous weekend, we'll have a mixed day for the return to work, with partial sun and temperatures in the low to mid-70s. In the afternoon, there'll be a 50 to 60 percent chances of showers, the Capital Weather Gang says, so it might be worth dragging the umbrella out.

Levy trail. Opening statements are expected to begin today in the trail of Ingmar Guandique, the man accused of killed Chandra Levy, On Friday, final jury selection was completed and a panel of 12 women and four men (12 jurors and four alternates) were selected for the trial, which is expected to last four to five weeks. With virtually no forensic evidence available to them, prosecutors are likely to lean heavily on circumstantial evidence as well as an incident in which Guandique allegedly confessed he killed to cellmates while serving a 10-year prison sentence in California. The defense likely will dwell on a series of police errors to make their case that authorities can't be certain Guandique is the killer. Check back with us for daily updates as the trial unfolds.

Today's headlines:

Maryland bucks the trend. It looks like it's going to be a good year for Republicans in many parts of the country, except in Maryland where any anti-incumbent fervor seems lost in the Maryland governor's race. Despite efforts to capitalize on high unemployment and general dissatisfaction with Democrats, a new Washington Post poll finds that Gov. Martin O'Malley continues to hold a substantial lead over the state's former Republican governor, Robert Ehrlich. Moreover, the poll found that the percentage of voters with a negative view of Ehrlich has jumped 10 percent -- most like due to the steady barrage of television ads that attempt to paint the former governor as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Marylanders.

A streetcar named . . . D.C. transportation officials are outlining their plans for the return of streetcars to D.C. streets starting in 2012. It's taken 14 years and there are still questions about funding and overhead wires, but officials are optimistic.

In tech news:

Uh, what's a cassette tape? If you remember parachute pants, the Brat Pack and the horror of Molly Ringwald's prom dress in "Pretty in Pink," you'll appreciate this bit of news: the Sony Walkman is no more. The device that made music portable long before Steve Jobs figured out how to pack 1,000 songs onto a device the size of a pack of gum, has been "retired" -- at least the tape-playing version. The Post's Rob Pegoraro reminises.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and have a great day. Be sure to check back with more updates on developments in the Chandra Levy trial as well as other headlines that may have happened while you were away from your screen. Curious about the chatter in the D.C. blogosphere? I'll have a roundup this afternoon.